DivcoWest Closes on 475,000-SF Office Park

WALTHAM, MA-Less than two years after acquiring a three-building office park here, Broadway Real Estate Partners has divested the asset, and reaped a substantial return in the process. The Prospect Hill Office Park was purchased by DivcoWest for a figure said to exceed $100 million. In December 2005, Broadway paid $62.3 million for 100, 200 and 300 Firth Ave. and a land parcel.

Officials at DivcoWest declined comment on the transaction when contacted by GlobeSt.com, and efforts to contact Broadway and the seller’s brokers at Cushman & Wakefield by press deadline were unsuccessful. Nonetheless, sources indicate the deal has been consummated after an extended negotiation process. The agreement was initially reported by GlobeSt.com in early summer, more than two months prior to the actual closing. The Capital Markets Group at Cushman & Wakefield orchestrated the sale, with members including Robert E. Griffin Jr., Marci Loeber and Edward Maher.

Based in San Francisco, DivcoWest has been reformulating its portfolio in Massachusetts in recent months. While the company is in the midst of selling a half-interest in Lowell’s CrossPoint Towers to local investment firm Davis Marcus Partners, DivcoWest has been adding to its holdings in other suburban Boston submarkets. This spring, the company secured 210 Littleton Rd. in Westford and 100 Crosby Dr. in Bedford. As in the case of the Waltham complex, the earlier acquisitions were made on behalf of a $650-million investment fund. In those earlier purchases, DivcoWest paid $61.5 million for 100 Crosby Dr. and $9.4 million for the Westford asset.

The vehicle, known as Market Street Capital Partners, is focused on office properties in technology heavy markets such as those where the Massachusetts assets are situated. Other areas targeted include Austin, TX; Denver; northern California and San Diego, with the capital raised from institutional investors. The fund has been in play since 2006.

The purchase of Prospect Hill gives DivcoWest a foothold in the top Boston office submarket of Route 128 Central, with Waltham considered the core of that stretch. Built between 1980 and 1982, Prospect Hill Office Park is ensconced in the heart of Waltham, with direct access to Route 128 and proximity to the Massachusetts Turnpike one exit south. Rental appreciation has been especially strong in that submarket, which posted an average asking rate of $30.37 per sf according to the most recent Jones Lang LaSalle survey. The overall suburban average is $21.82 per sf.